James 2

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁵You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

¹⁹Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

¹⁷Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

²¹To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

¹⁰So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

²²But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

⁸Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.

⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

³Now Joshua was dressed in filthy garments as he stood before the angel.

⁴So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”

²The king removed the signet ring he had recovered from Haman and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai over the estate of Haman.

¹⁵And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

⁴⁴And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You did not greet Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived.

⁵They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

¹⁶These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

²⁴Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”

¹⁹who is not partial to princes and does not favor rich over poor? For they are all the work of His hands.

¹“Do not judge, or you will be judged.

²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

²“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

⁹“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

²⁶Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

²¹This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

⁵He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.

³¹Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

²²Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!

⁶You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the Lord is their shelter.

⁴Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

¹⁴The Lord brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.

¹⁵Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord God of Hosts.

⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names,

¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

⁹He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name.

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

¹³I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.

⁵The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

⁶And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.

³The fragrance of your perfume is pleasing; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens adore you.

¹⁸Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

⁸Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.

³¹The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

³²“Right, Teacher,” the scribe replied. “You have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him,

¹⁵You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.

¹My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.

²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.

⁹When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

⁴Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.

²⁰Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

⁸And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:

¹⁰All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

¹⁸For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

¹⁹So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁶‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹³You shall not murder.

¹⁴You shall not commit adultery.

²¹You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.

¹⁷You shall not murder.

¹⁸You shall not commit adultery.

⁹The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,

³If You, O Lord, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand?

⁴But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.

²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.

⁴Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

⁷Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

¹³Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

³⁷Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

⁴But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

²⁵To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

²⁶But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

²⁷The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”

²¹Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

²²Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

⁴⁹But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

¹¹John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”

³⁵For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,

³⁶I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

⁷Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

¹⁶If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

¹⁷if I have eaten my morsel alone, not sharing it with the fatherless—

¹⁰and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

²⁷Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.

²⁸Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.

¹⁶By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

¹⁷If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

⁴²For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,

⁴³I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’

⁹Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

⁸I am not giving a command, but I am testing the sincerity of your love through the earnestness of others.

¹⁵When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”

²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

¹⁹You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

⁵The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

⁵The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

⁷In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

³⁴“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁴“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁹“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.

¹⁵But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁷So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

¹¹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

⁸Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?

⁹He who affixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?

³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

¹⁶saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.

⁹When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood.

¹⁰Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

³⁹“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.

³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

⁵³Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”

³and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁷By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,

¹⁸even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

⁵But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

¹⁷In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.

¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

⁶Abram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

⁸“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—

⁷Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?

⁶So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²²This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

²³Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,

¹¹Thus the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

²¹Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

¹⁶If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that?

³¹By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies in peace, did not perish with those who were disobedient.

²²Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised her.”

²³So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

¹⁹If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.

²⁰And if you report our mission, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

¹⁵Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city.

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

¹⁷Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.

²⁰O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?

¹⁷So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

⁷before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

¹⁴If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

⁵⁹While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

⁶⁰Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.